How to summarize our year?

Wow, time passes so fast that AP Biology 2015-2016 is coming to the end. What we have learned in the past year is truly beyond word explanation. When I was sitting on the chair, waiting patiently to open my AP Biology exam booklet, I was engorged by a rush of confidence because I knew that hard efforts will always pay off at the end and that each member of our team will rock the test. The test, for us, was more like a brilliant exposition of our expansive knowledge than anything else.

From an academic point of view, this course prepared us exceedingly well for the AP exam, and we all had so much fun while learning. Dissecting the fetal pig made me reflect a lot on the genius design of our body systems as well as the amazing coordination between them for the sole goal of our fitness and survival; “Save the Bay” field trip helped me realize the importance of citizen science programs and the preciousness of our environment, etc…What’s more, this course taught us to find the most suitable learning technique for ourselves, which helps us save time and study more efficiently.

Technologically, We tried various types of technology, such as WordPressfor expressing our points of view,  Prezi for memorizing difficult vocabularies, Thinglink for presenting a collage of ideas, Stop motion for animating still things, and Voicethread for presenting authentic medical cases. Trying something new is always very interesting and is the best way to learn. Also, using technology to express our ideas in creative ways makes learning a truly fun experience. In fact, technology always makes my life easier since it is a better way to present an idea to the audience and make it interesting and fun.

Businessman and business sketch

This course has taught us that learning is a fun experience, not a hideous struggle. Being successful in this class largely depends on attitude and the effort we have put in. Biology is the study of life and since taking this course, I noticed that I have become more aware of my health and that I have accumulated many good habits.  AP Biology 2015-2016 is an unforgettable experience in my life, and I  will keep everything- the good habits, the positive attitude, the upbeat spirit-I have learned in this class with me, forever.

In the end, I have to say: thank you,  my dear comrades, who made this class so valuable and so revitalizing and thank you, Mrs. Girard, for you truly stroked our passion for the field of science and prepared us so well for the 21st-century advanced world.

Final Preparations for the AP Exam

After months of 80 minute classes every day, we are reaching towards the end of the finish line. However, before we could say hello to summer and graduation, first we had a few more things to do to keep us busy. While some of my other classes seemed to lessen our coursework towards the end of the school year, Mrs. Girard kept us busy until the very end! Some of my favorite activities we got to do were the lab practicals, looking into the new Z Space technology, and preparing for the AP Biology exam. Yes, I know the dreaded four hour AP exam that includes 64 multiple choice questions, 6 math questions and 8 free response questions. Even though we were all nervous and anxious about the exam, our teacher managed to make the last few days of review fun and stress relieving! Let's take a trip down onto the last few activities of the SCHOOL YEAR!

Hard at work (also nice look Julia)

1) Examining pig organs and structures. How fun. If you gathered any sense of sarcasm in that statement, you are partially wrong. Although the idea of dissecting up a foul smelling fetal pig is a tad bit disgusting, it makes for a great learning experience! :) As a class, we looked at mammalian body structures and organs, focusing on the circulatory, nervous, endocrine, excretory, digestive, skeletal, and reproductive systems. Those who felt uncomfortable with physically dissecting the fetus were tasked with the job of the secretary, writing down observations and filling out worksheets.

Lab Practical

2) Back in the good old days (first semester) we visited the Z Space a couple times with our friends from Holy Names School in Oakland (you can check out that post here). This time, we went on to explore more complex programs. We looked at chordates structures using the Z Space 3D technology. This was super cool because it gave a great visual of what we were learning in the science classrooms. My partner, Bianca, and I looked at many creatures such as birds,whales, snakes, fish, and other mammals and amphibians.

3) Last but not least, we reviewed for the upcoming AP exam. All year long we have been preparing for this exam through our labs, tests, discussions, and projects in order to be ready for the exam. During the last few days of review, we played a game that involved filling in the answers to a small slip of paper. The rules are: you have two chances to get ALL answer correct. If you get ALL the answers correct, you get the chance to shoot a paper ball into a trash bin for extra credit points. The game was fun, competitive, and engaging. I was not stressed while playing that game and it helped me to remember some terms that I had forgotten or had trouble with.

Having now taken the exam, I can fully say that this class really prepared me. I learned a whole lot in just the first semester! Sadly, our class days are dwindling down. But it is not over yet! There's still things we have to do (lets face it we're always working)! Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: All pictures are taken by Rebecca Girard

Evolution and Classification

The weeks before Spring Break were packed full of new information on the different kingdoms. Classification is extremely important because it helps us determine the relation of different organisms, shared traits, common ancestors, and relative time of evolution. Our focus has been on how evolution ties into to classification and taxonomy. A key thing to remember is the order of taxonomy levels. The nmeumonic "Dumb Kids Playing Catch On Freeways Get Squished" helps one remember Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species.

First we focused on Kingdom Protista. We examined samples of different protists under a microscope during the Protista Lab. This allowed us to brush up on our microscope skills and strengthen our scientific sketching. We looked at various classes of the kingdom and presented on their sizes, genus and species, movement, method of eating, and notable structures.

To study  plants, we took a more individual approach. Each student chose a topic pertaining to plants that she felt would make an interesting and informative lesson for the Biology and Honors Biology students. Carnivorous plants, fruits versus vegetables, and drugs derived from plants were just a few of the topics upon which the lessons focused. The lessons were all very unique and creative with a focus on interactivity. Multimedia was another focus of these lessons. Websites such as Kahoot and Padlet found their way into these presentations as well as use of home-made podcasts!


 We also focused on animals, specifically invertebrates. This clade includes animals as diverse as sea stars, sponges, spiders, crabs, jellyfish, octopi, worms, and butterflies. Understanding the taxonomy was very important to this section. Phylum and class were the main levels that we learned. These organisms are all animals, and they all lack a backbone. The other group of animals that we will study later is vertebrates (more specifically chordates).

  

To understand fungi, we all collected samples of fungi we found growing freely outside. Usually I can find lots of fungi in my backyard, but this time I couldn't find any. On a search for fungi, I went to a nearby park, and I found what appeared to be a type of mushroom. I brought them in to class as instructed, but when we began to examine them, I found that all I had was a bag of dark liquid. It turns out that I had found an ink cap. Other students had gotten large mushrooms from around campus.

We were able to really dive into the specifics of the different kingdoms during these lessons. Before now, AP Bio focused on the mechanisms, phenomena, and structures that connect all organisms. Focusing on the different kingdoms and phylums allowed us to learn about what makes organisms different.

Originally posted on Christine's blog!

Round Up: Life Organized

Season 9 seemed to go by very quickly. Most of the information was a review from things we already learned in our first year of biology. We started off learning about the origins of Earth and how life began. There are some interesting theories  as to how Earth started, but one of the most common theories is, meteorites containing amino acids came crashing down on Earth billions of years ago and when they did, the impact provided enough energy to produce polypeptides. There is evidence that shows meteorites containing amino acids so this theory is probable.

Mrs. Girard directed us to this pretty cool website that you can definitely spend hour looking at. I found out some pretty interesting information ranging from, 15-25% of all land animals are ants to, The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way that is similar in size and shape and apparently, in a few billion years, these two galaxies will collide to form a larger galaxy which would be known as Milkomeda (contributed by Bianca).

Phylogenetics was the next script we had to rehearse. Phylogenetics was a review of evolutionary history. By using a phylogenetic tree you can find the similarities and differences between species and when the species branched off from each other relative to other species on the same tree.

"File:Phylogenetic Tree.svg." - Wikimedia Commons. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

"File:Phylogenetic Tree.svg." - Wikimedia Commons. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

We were assigned to do a class Prezi and everyone chose a designated section to contribute to the Prezi. The Prezi was on Script 27, which is about prokaryotes. The Prezi includes the structure and function, reproduction and mutation, adaptations, phylogeny, environmental role, and impacts on humans of prokaryotes.

Next was the Kingdom Protista. The most prominent thing I remember about this script is the protista lab. I like seeing the things that I am learning about so being able to study some protists under the microscope was helpful in studying Kingdom Protista. My favorite protist is the Blepharisma because of the pinkish color, the way it moves, and the name sounds pretty cool as well.

Before spring break began we reviewed invertebrates and fungi. Invertebrates include phyla porifera, cnideria, platyhelminthes, annelida, anthropoda, mollusca, and echinodermata. For each phylum there was a video to go along with it. The videos gave a good amount of information, but were still interesting and engaging.

Last but not least we studied Kingdom Fungi. Kingdom Fungi sometimes gets overlooked, but fungus are key components in the recycling of nutrients back into the environment. We also use fungus to produce penicillin. Fun fact, the hard white crust on brie is made of penicillium, part of a family of mold that is used to make pencillin.

There are so many species in Kingdom Animalia and I am excited to start learning more  about the wrest of the kingdom.

Dolphins can swim up to 25 mph! They are also pretty smart compared to many 

Round Up: March 13

AP Biology jumped right back in after intersession. To finish up evolution, we watched the movie "What Darwin Never Knew." What did Darwin never know?

What did Darwin never know?

Quite a lot, actually. Darwin would have been surprised at the idea of DNA, at the idea of epigenetics and even at the mechanisms of evolution. Although he came up with the idea of natural selection, Darwin by no means invented evolution or was the first scientist to theorize about it.

Definitely nothing about DNA.

After discussing Darwin's theories, "What Darwin Never Knew," began to discuss HOW human thought exists. Because humans have less muscle power in the jaw, the skull is less constricted than that of an ape. This was the part of the movie that interested me the most, and when Team AP Bio sat down to discuss, we happily chatted for the class period. It's amazing to think about the things that Darwin never knew.

The difference in skulls.

With the end of Season 8 came the start of a new Season. We kicked it off with a bang by watching another movie: "Origins - How Life Began". Delving into the idea of how life was formed on Early Earth, we were presented with different theories and then asked to look for others.

Bacteria in very uninhabitable caves form structures like stalactites.

Julia found a theory about the presence of dark matter creating enough force for essential elements to reach our planet. Isabelle discovered RNA Theory, in which life originated from RNA molecules. M0nica found Stephen Hawking's theory of accidental life formed in pools of primordial soup of amino acids.

Bianca's contribution was the theory that life could have originated in life. Water in ice could have gathered molecules and combined them. I found the idea of spontaneous generation - if you put dirty garments and wheat in a container, suddenly mice are generated. Christine, the idea that meteors carried the simple molecules needed to create single-celled organisms.

Spontaneous generation.

And finally, Sofia presented us with the Clockwork Universe Theory, the idea that God set life into motion.

I love combining all of our ideas into a giant pot and then just discussing. Interesting that out of all of us, only one found a non-scientific theory. Where did life come from? We're still not sure, but at least the world now has seven more people interested in figuring this mystery out.

Works Cited

Bacteria Snots Carve Caves. Digital image. Softpedia. Softpedia, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

DNA. Digital image. Basics of DNA. Youtube, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Origins of Life. Digital image. NOVA. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Spontaneous Generation. Digital image. Time Toast. Time Toast, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

What Darwin Never Knew. Digital image. NOVA. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Who Are You Calling Weak? Digital image. Discover Magazine. Discover Magazine, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Round Up #2: pGLO Transformed – Glow N’ Grow Display

Over the past unit of Genetics and Biotechnology, my AP Bio class and I have done various activities that have sparked my interest in genetics. One significant activity that we did was performing a genetic transformation lab using E. coli bacteria and a plasmid called pGLO. I think that this pGLO lab really gave me a taste of a hands-on work involving gene expression and tracking the progress of gene expression. The goal of the lab was to get the E. coli bacteria to accept and express new genes and we specificially selected genes for ampicillin, an antibiotic, resistance and a gene that expressed bright bioflourescence. It is an interesting concept to try and get a certain organism to express new genes especially ones that they are not naturally given to the organism or genes that the organism is not used to. But I also thought that it was even more interesting that this transaction, this delivery of genes, happens constantly in nature. Many bacteria undergo the transfer of plasmids with even bacteria of other species to help give them more advantages to adapting to their surrounding environments.

To take a look at the general cycle of what occurred during the lab from the bacteria’s perspective, we could take a look at the pGLO plasmid.

The first stop is the origin where DNA replication occurs, causing the bacterium to create more plasmids so when the bacterium reproduces, each offspring receives a plasmid. The second stop is the bla gene which codes for beta-lactamase which digests ampicillin (an antibiotic) and gives the bacteria resistance to ampicillin. The third stop is the araC gene which produces a regulatory protein that prevents RNA polymerase from transcribing the GFP gene. Since the goal is to have GFP gene be expressed to determine if the bacteria is transformed by the bla gene (since the GFP gene shows bioflourescence and acts as a tracker), arabinose is introduced which induces the araC gene. The fourth part is the GFP gene which codes for a green fluorescent protein, GFP, that fluoresces under UV light.

Within this experiment, we had two groups, one called -pGLO (the control group which was not given a plasmid to transform) and one called +pGLO (the experimental group which had a plasmid inserted and transformed). These groups each had three respective dishes which tracked the progress of gene expression. The first column of dishes showed bacterial growth without any other conditions, the second column of dishes showed bacterial growth if ampicillin was added, and the third column showed bacterial growth if ampicillin was added and whether the GFP gene was expressed.

The results showed that the +pGLO plate with the inserted plasmid was able to successfully express the genes for ampicillin resistance and GFP.

And as I mentioned before, the hands-on work of being able to implement genes was very cool because there was technology and different bacteria that I got to handle and work with. For example, in this lab we heavily used pipettes and I felt like I greatly improved in my skills of using them accurately. In addition, it was interesting to handle the bacteria and use different plates to promote growth and glow and use inoculating loops to transfer colonies to certain plates.

Overall, this pGLO lab was very interesting and gave me new insight into the revelation of genetic transformation and how this concept can be applied to living organisms.

Round Up: January 11

Do you remember the last meal you ate? What were the contents of your food selection? Protein, vegetables, grains? Remember back in middle school, when teachers would give health ed courses and explain the food pyramid?  Last week for Team AP Bio, our class got to revisit health ed by reflecting on the eating habits that Americans have, over time, ingrained in the food industry.  During the week, we spent class time conversing about the importance of maintaining moderation in life. As in everything that we do, it is important to remember to keep a balanced lifestyle. America's gluttony has become somewhat of a mystery. The film, "In Defense of Food," brings up the question of why America consumes the largest amount of food per year, compared to the other countries? The answer lies in inherently in the nature of food advertising. In the film, Michael Pollan, who is a journalist, speaks about how food companies can trick consumers into eating products that are unhealthy.

Before, people used to be scared of eating food that contains “fat” and people were even more fearful for their health more than ever. Many companies began to use the strategy to minimizing fat concentration to show people that their products are okay to eat. Contrary to popular beliefs, this did not help remediate the problem, in fact, only making the situation worse and the chances of developing heart disease and diabetes also increased along with this shift. Removing the fat in the food resulted in adding more and more concentrations of sugar. People can eat excessively when they think what their eating is perfectly healthy, but we know that food companies are known to stretch the truth. The problem with the food industry began way back, 30,000 years ago. During this time many people were poor and didn’t have much money. They depended on eating bread for their source of food. Most people ate hard and dark-colored bread that is also known as whole grain bread. Later on, people started to make white bread by removing the germ layers and natural oils from the milling process, producing light-colored flour. The white bread lasts much longer than whole grain bread, thus why people began to eat it. However, many people began getting diseases caused by eating only white bread because of its lack of protein or vitamins. People soon became afraid of eating foods with certain substances within them.

Example of white bread today

Another point that film addresses is the lack of eating “silent foods” as Michael Pollan calls it. Silent foods are foods that are natural, such as fruits and veggies! Eating foods with vitamins such as calcium, omega 3s, and iron are also very important towards maintaining a good diet. According to the film, every additional portion of fruit or vegetable decreases the risk of heart disease and stroke. American’s diet heavily consists of food that people eat too much of, for example red meat. Before watching this video, I had never realize how much meat my family includes in our meals. Eating too much meat can result in developing health restrictions, like ones mention in the previous paragraph. Many meat-producing companies have complained and filed lawsuits after food and health administrations released new information about the negative impacts of consuming a lot of meat. Of course, businesses is business, and these companies will do what they have to do to protect the company’ name. People are scared. They do not want to eat food that will harm their health. However, we do not have to cut out meat completely our of our diet. Eating certain small amounts of servings at a time can help to transition into a more balanced diet. Scientists have already stated, after multiples trials of research, that the more meat a person eats, the more risks that the person’s healthy will have. Red meat consists of a Pollan states several times in his film that moderation is the key word in eating healthy.

Silent Foods!

It is true that the food industry is to blame, in some part, for allowing the amount of sugar in these foods. However, ultimately, it is up to individuals to take control of their diet. Eating healthy is about compromise and moderation. I say that a compromise is needed in order to change a person’s eating habits. Let’s say that instead of eating the dish of steak and potatoes, you opt for some chicken Caesar salad. Eating should be enjoyable as well as nourishing. Remember, that it’s okay to indulge once in a while. It’s natural for people to want to indulge on food they are used to eating. People should take responsibility for what they put into their meals. Michael Pollan has created a set of rules designed to help us eat healthy. One, eat food that will eventually rot. Two, avoid preserved food and eat food only created by humans (so you get the satisfaction of knowing what is in your meal). Three, drink water! And lastly, all things in moderation, including moderation! So next time you think about cooking a meal, remember to keep in mind eating responsibly.

Round up: December 28, 2015

Dear AP Bio, do you still remember the Google World Map we created together on the first day of school? I still remember the excitement exuded from all of us as we entered the most memorable place in the world, with the hope to use this as a chance to know each other better.

Looking back, that's the mark of the beginning of our journey and from that point on, we've walked each other through 6 seasons, exploring the fascinated World of Biology, and came to recognize the indispensable contribution each member made to our unbreakable community in which every members has an intregral part.

In season one, we built the foundation for our journey as we explored the Characteristics of Life, the uniqueness of water and the importance of Carbon in organic chemistry. I still remember the day when Mrs.Girard brought a special guest--fire--to help us differentiate between what's alive and what's not alive to make the class more dynamic and memorable.

In season two, we became fascinated with the job of the cell membrane which is semi-permeable and controls the passage of certain substances in and out of cell. We also came to realize the indispensable role enzymes play in our body as they lower the activation energy, thus enabling the chemical reaction to take place, such as the glucose uptake by cells and blood clotting on a wound.

In season three, we challenged ourselves by entering Breakthrough Junior Challenge and used this as a chance to research on our favorite topics. It's interesting that we covered such a broad range of topics and we learned so much from the tutorial videos each one of us made. In Eden's tutorial video on Diabetes, I became engrossed with the difference between Diabetes 1 which is hereditary and Diabetes 2 which is influenced by unhealthy life styles and acquired bad habits.

In season four, we explored two processes that are most intrigal to our lives and the ecosystem--Cellular respiration which all organisms use to break down food to provide energy for basic activities and Photosynthesis which plants use to convert light energy to chemical energy. Do you still remember the game we played to save Jared's lives because of the malfunction of electron chain during his cellular respiration process? Do you also remember the two  games we created to help us review the concepts?

Then, we jumped into a relaxing season where we learned the Cell Signaling from the case study "my dog is broken" while at the same time delving deeper into Mitosis and Meiosis. The Meiosis animation videos we created are amazing!!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRc-sccIsuE]

Last came the summit of our semester--the genetics. I could see every one was so engrossed by this season because genetics explain to us the genes that relate us with our ancestors and offsprings. The medical family pedigree enabled us to wonder at the pattern of heredity of each genetic disease or abnormality. Finally, we ended this semester with the genetic symposium which enables us to gain a deeper understanding about different genetic disorder. Since most of us want to venture into medical field in the future I think this project is especially beneficial as it enabled us to experience the emotional aspect concerning each disease as we interviewed patients, doctors, or researchers who recounted to us the vivid first-hand experience when dealing with the disease.

While we are exploring in the rigorous academic field, we are also leaving behind our digital footprints along the way, hinting on our personalities, our fascination with technological advancement and our observations about trivial things through the delicate use of words.Knowing that our blogs will be seen in public, each one of us tried to polish our digital presence to the best of our ability, correcting all the grammar mistakes and trying to insert many pictures or videos to fascinate our potential readers.  Exploring every blog is like exploring in Alice Wonder Land and we can easily get lost in the words of thoughts. The blogs are essentially what's unique about this class in a sense that while they unite us they teach us how to be better at our writing and how to use fascinating technologies to embellish the black and white writing.

I am really looking forward to next semester because our journey together will become more amazing.

Round Up: December 14, 2015

     Wow, did we have an exciting few weeks! We started December off by finalizing our topics for the Genetics and Health Symposium. I chose to research Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. Eden chose Hemophilia A, Isabelle researched Tay Sach's Disease, and Bianca chose Huntington's Disease. Sofia selected Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Julia decided on Cri du Chat, and Monica chose Cystic Fibrosis. The assignment was to research our chosen genetic disorders and become experts on them. We would need to do a lot of research in order to present to our classmates and teacher through VoiceThread.

This is a screenshot I took of six of the presentations in VoiceThread.

     The Genetic Symposium was put on the back burner for a little while, or rather, we did that for homework and focused on other topics in class. Following the theme of genetics, we all collected our family's medical histories. In search for inheritable disorders, we created our pedigrees. Originally we were supposed to have a discussion and share what we found out at the beginning of the month, but due to many unplanned absences, we were unable to all be together on one. We finally shared a couple days ago, and I learned about some disorders that were new to me.
     On December 3rd, we went on an awesome field trip to visit Santa Clara University's graduate engineering program. The trip down was super fun because we all squished into one school car and were able to talk and eat. Wonderfully enough, it was raining that day, so when we arrived, we ran inside the building for cover. Our first stop was a room filled with penny games that the graduate students had built. Playing the games was a blast, and getting to see what grad students are making themselves was awesome. One of the most fun games was a digital version of Whack-a-Mole; buttons light up, and you try to push them as fast as you can. I played against Sofia, and the final score was super close. Another game that I found challenging was trying to move a ball up a ramp and get to the top. The slightest wrong movement would cause the ball to fall back to the bottom of the ramp.

Here you can see people playing the digital Whack-a-Mole penny game.

     After spending a bit of time with the penny games, we were joined by students from another high school's AP Biology class. Then we went to the maker space. There we saw a couple of 3D printers in action and got to look at some of the products. After a brief explanation of the room and its niceties, we were moved to another room to watch a demonstration using a bioprinter. This was the big reveal, what we had been waiting for. Afterwards we were given a mini lecture on bioprinters which was very informative. Once back at NDB, we showed the students from the other school our zSpaces. The technology we get to use and experience in our AP Biology class is amazing!

     We continued in the days after the field trip learning and reviewing Mendelian genetics, DNA replication, and protein synthesis. We also watched the NOVA episode "Cracking the Code of Life." On Thursday the 11th, our Genetics and Health Symposium projects were due, and we discussed them the very next day. This past season was full of many cool opportunities to immerse ourselves into the world of genetics and technology. Hopefully the next season does the same!

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All images are original.

Round Up: November 30

After our unit on cell signaling, Team AP Bio jumped right into our next season: Genetics. We all flashed back to Honors Bio with a review of Mendel's Pea Plants. After relearning Punnett Squares, we went into depth on DNA Replication.

Helicase, topoisomerase, and ligase: which is which? Learning about the process of DNA Replication was definitely a review of enzymes for all of us. 

The process of DNA replication.

Finally, we spent an entire hour discussing our assignments for the last unit of this semester. Family Medical History, DNA Extraction, and Genetic Symposiums, oh my! Instead of creating a family tree with pictures and shakily-written names, just as we did in elementary school, we were told to create a family tree, including any medical afflictions. 

The beginning of my family medical history

"Go crazy," we were told. Well, not really, but essentially. Anything from glasses or freckles, to anemia or cancer. Over three generations, what could we possibly find in our medical history? Any trends? I, myself, was already planning my medical history out. I could tell that everyone else was, too, because Bianca had started writing things down and Julia was animatedly discussing possibilities with Mrs. Girard and with me.

This was the perfect project for Thanksgiving - as we all spend time with our families, we can connect and learn more about who we are by discussing our medical past. And we can all be thankful for the modern technologies which have allowed all of us to exist today. 

The DNA I extracted.

On top of the family medical history, we were informed of an extra credit opportunity: DNA extraction. With a strawberry (or other piece of fruit), dish soap, and alcohol, anyone can extract the gloop which is DNA. Julia completed this project with her sisters, Monica stuck to strawberries, Isabelle used a banana, and I tried out different fruits before concluding that the strawberry worked best. You can see my extraction here. 

Works Cited

DNA Replication. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 13 May 2016.

Round Up: Learning is Fun!

The past few weeks of school my classmates and I studied cell signaling, mitosis and meiosis. We conducted a case study called, My Dog is Broken, trying to solve the mystery of what caused the dog to cease to have an erection. The case study showed the importance of the entire process of signaling working together to pass the response to the final destination. If one part of the signal is not working properly the entire signal will not be able to perform its function 

Overview of Cell Signaling                                Reece, Jane B., and Lisa A. Urry. Campbell Biology. Tenth ed. 2011. Print.

      Before the chapter test, we were assigned a project on the topic of meiosis. The rules were, the project must be in video format and the process of meiosis had to be seen dividing and crossing over. The rest was up to our creativity. I enjoyed the project because of the creativity needed and accessibility of the videos. My classmates and I were able to watch each others videos and they were a great review before the test. My favorite activity by far was the mitosis animal cell quiz. When you hear  quiz your brain automatically freaks out, but this was not a usual quiz. The first part of the quiz was creating each step of mitosis in an animal cell using arts and craft supply. There was really not limit to what could be produced, but it had to be in a 90-minute period of time. My classmates and I each chose one step of mitosis to complete. We had to work together cohesively to figure out what object was going to be used for the nucleus, the chromosomes, the spindle fibers, and so on. I had fun communicating and discussing what would work best with each aspect of mitosis. Since I am a visual learner, being able to see visually and in person what mitosis looks like (roughly) made the process so much easier to understand. We were having so much fun constructing our animal cells the time flew. By the end of class everyone was frantically gluing pieces. Luckily everyone finished before the bell rang. 

The great artwork AP Bio created. Mitosis in animal cells, minus a few chromosomes that fell off.

 The next day, after all the glue was dried, Team AP Bio got back together and had to explain what was happening in the different steps of mitosis while Mrs. Girard was filming us.  Being put on the spot was good practice for the test, because you have to answer questions quickly. Overall, I had a great time while at the same time learning more about the different processes of living organisms. When education is enjoyable it doesn't even seem like you are learning. It's magic!

 Here is the video Christine and I created!
https://youtu.be/bYnlM69QXig
  

Featured Image:  Bost, Kim. "Party in the Air." Flickr. Yahoo!, 2 June 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/bost/2545318262>.

Round Up: It's Not Easy Being Green

For the past few weeks, Team AP Bio has been learning about the process of photosynthesis with a little review of cellular respiration mixed in.  Cells with mitochondria already have to run many processes simultaneously in order to keep up cellular respiration.  The cells of photosynthetic organisms have the extra challenge of adding the processes within photosynthesis to the mix.  That is a lot to juggle!

Noor. Kermit Drawing. Digital image. Sketchport. Sketchport, 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Our foray into photosynthesis included two labs, an independent project, and even a video game, but my favorite activity was the chromatography lab.  My classmates and I gathered leaves from around Notre Dame’s campus.  We used chromatography techniques to separate various pigments found in the thylakoid membrane within the leaves’ chloroplasts.  Studying different pigments leads to knowledge of the types of light that plants grow best under.  Scientists can use chromatography to make agriculture more efficient! The most common pigments we found were chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, which reflect green light.   Other pigments included xanthophyll (yellow), carotenoids (orange), and anthocyanin (red and purple).  Because both chlorophyll reflects green light, we were able to infer that the plants with high levels of chlorophyll grew best under red and blue light.  When I think of a leaf, the first word that comes to my mind is green, but now all I can only think of the colorful pigments spread out on the chromatography strips.  It is amazing how many colors a leaf can hide under its green exterior.

Plant Pigment Chromatography. Digital image. Pearson. Pearson Education, Inc., n.d. Web. 2015.

The other activity that stood out was the test review.  Normally I find review terribly boring because it usually entails a lecture, but Mrs. Girard threw us a curveball. We split into two teams and created board games that covered both cellular respiration and photosynthesis.  My team designed a game inspired by baseball and named “Three Strikes, You’re Dead.”  As a kinetic learner, I loved getting crafty and using my hands to physically create the game.  It recalling the material spatially in my head much easier.  Also, I noticed that many of the questions that my team wrote for game were similar to those on the test.  Writing our own questions made us stop and think which information would be crucial to know in terms of the big picture.  As a cherry on top, we spent whole block trying each other’s games out.  Overall making the board game aided my memory, made my studying more efficient, and was enjoyable to both play and make.  I really hope we get to do something similar in the future.

A picture of us playing the board games that was taken from Mrs. Girard’s twitter.

Round Up: Investigating the Impact of Poison on Cellular Respiration

These past few weeks, my AP Bio class and I have been focusing on the cycles of life specifically the cycles of aerobic respiration. Now, trying to understand glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and the electron transport chain can be pretty confusing and complicated because so many things are all happening at once. You know, it is crazy to think that our body can give us thousands of ATP molecules in a couple of seconds to help our bodies function!!! Anyway, we all worked on an activity on Cogentedu.com called Investigative Case: Cellular Respiration. I enjoyed this activity because it not only gave me a clearer understanding of all of the three major cycles but it also gave us me situation where I had to use my knowledge of the cycles and apply it to daily life.

The activity set up a scene where a man from the C.I.A. was poisoned, I was a toxicologist, and it was my duty to save this man’s life. The man was poisoned and experienced symptoms of dizziness and shortness of breath. To save him, I had to determine the specific cycle in cellular respiration that was being affected and then from there identify the specific poison that affected the person. The activity had us look at three pieces of data to help us determine the impact of the poison which are as follows: creation of pyruvate molecules. creation of NADH, and the amount of 1M proton concentration. The activity gave us control data of the amount of each category that was present in a functioning human body cell; the activity also gave us the changes in amounts of each category present in one of the poisoned man’s body’s cells. According to the data given, the man did not have a significant change in the production of pyruvate molecules, the amount of NADH molecules increased, and the amount of 1M proton concentration decreased. As a result, I believed that cyanide was the poison that affected him because cyanide impacts the electron transport chain by not allowing hydrogen molecules to bond to oxygen, become water, and then exit the electron transport chain. Since the data revealed that the amount of pyruvate molecules stayed relatively the same, I reasoned that cyanide does not impact glycolysis. However, the data also revealed that the amount of NADH produced had increased which makes sense because glycolysis continued to run and create more pyruvate molecules which the citric acid cycle took and made more NADH. And since the electron transport chain is inhibited by cyanide, the NADH electron carriers could not move on and donate electrons to the electron transport chain since the electron transport chain was already backed up with electrons. Lastly, the data revealed that 1M proton concentration decreased which makes sense since electrons are not passed down because if electrons are not passed down, then energy is not released which is used to pump protons from the matrix to the intermembrane space of the mitochondria and create a functioning proton gradient.

I was pretty happy to find out that my hypothesis was accurate because I felt like it meant that I went about the right away in understanding the information presented. I really enjoyed this activity and we are going to do another one hopefully on the process of photosynthesis so I am looking forward to that. :)

Photo of Cellular Respiration Process >> Found on Free Images from Bing; Original address:http://bioap.wikispaces.com/file/view/16.JPG/121958045/16.JPG

Image of CIA logo >> Found on Free Images from Bing; Original address:http://pre00.deviantart.net/c04d/th/pre/f/2009/051/7/6/cia_grey_logo_by_krumbi.jpg